List of high-quality authors Who will fight first in a war with NATO?Russia Finland!It is the vanguard of the West's opposition to **!
On December 28, IA reported that Russia observed that Finland may not benefit much after joining NATO. Russia's representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, made it clear in an interview that in the event of a military conflict between NATO and Russia, Finland would be the first country to be hit. In his opinion, Finland's transformation from a neutral and friendly country to a member of NATO will inevitably lead to retaliatory measures by Russia.
Finland shares a border with Russia and has long been regarded by Russia as a "neutral and generally friendly" country and has always maintained good neighborly relations. However, on April 4, 2023, Finland officially became a member of NATO, becoming the 31st member of the alliance. Two months later, the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces, General Timo Kiwinen, and the Supreme Commander for NATO's Transformation, General Philippe Lavigne, signed a joint statement, marking the completion of Finland's military integration with NATO.
In addition, in mid-December, Finland and the United States signed an agreement to strengthen defense cooperation. Under the agreement, the U.S. military is allowed to use 15 military bases in Finland and deploy equipment and supplies on Finnish territory in advance. This move poses a serious challenge to Russia, which will not sit idly by in the face of NATO's military build-up on its borders.
As Putin emphasized, all disputes between Russia and Finland have long been resolved, and relations between the two countries have always been good. However, with Finland's accession to NATO, new problems seem to follow. Finland's NATO membership has sparked retaliatory actions from Russia, with Putin publicly warning that Russia will proceed with rebuilding the Leningrad and Moscow military districts and deploying some military equipment around Finland.
On the one hand, the reason why Russia has taken a tough stance on Finland is that it needs to knock on the mountain and shake the tiger, and by responding strongly to Finland, it will warn neighboring countries not to recklessly join NATOOn the other hand, it is associated with the repeated provocations of Finland, which makes Russia feel compelled to act accordingly.
Recently, Finland's policy toward Russia has undergone drastic changes and a series of measures have been taken against Russia. At the beginning of July, Finland further tightened restrictions on the entry of Russian property owners and announced the complete closure of border crossings in the southeast of the country on the border with St. Petersburg from November 18 to February 18, 2024. In addition, Finland has imposed stricter entry restrictions on Russia since November 9 and began closing its borders completely on December 15.
Finland not only allows the United States to station troops on its territory, but also carries out troop build-up in areas bordering Russia. In addition, Finland openly supports Ukraine against Russia. Finland's Prime Minister Elina Valtonen said that 19 rounds of military aid to Ukraine have been carried out, totaling more than 1.3 billion euros. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kekkonen revealed that Finland is about to start producing artillery shells for Ukraine, with a total value of tens of millions of euros.
As Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Finland is fast becoming a pioneer in the anti-Russian movement in the West, at the forefront of the anti-Russian, hostile and even racist movement in the West. Russia, as a fighting nation, will respond to hostilities. Finland's aggressiveness is largely due to its belief that NATO membership will be supported by countries such as the United States. However, in the great power game, small countries are often victimized, and Finland is not immune to this fate.
The responsibility for going from a good-neighbourly region to being the first country to be hit lies entirely with Finland. Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer, has made it clear that although it is widely believed that Finland's accession to NATO will put Russia at a disadvantage, in reality it will only cause problems for Finland itself. "Finland is asking for trouble by joining NATO!," he stressed”